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Are We Trading Our Happiness for Modern Comforts?

theatlantic.com · 1,728 words · saved by 1 readers

As society gets richer, people chase the wrong things.

One of the greatest paradoxes in American life is that while, on average, existence has gotten more comfortable over time, happiness has fallen. According to the United States Census Bureau, average household income in the U.S., adjusted for inflation, was higher in 2019 than has ever been recorded for every income quintile. And although income inequality has risen, this has not been mirrored by inequality in the consumption of goods and services. For example, from 2008 to 2019 , households in the lowest income quintile increased spending on eating out by an average of about 22 percent after c

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